Tell Me a Story
by Copper's Mama
Summary: Damon/Elena fic, spin-off from my fic "Forget With Me". Ties in to Episode 20. Please read and review!


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_A Damon/Elena fic._

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_Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Vampire Diaries. I'm not that awesome. _

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_A/N: Well, as promised, this is the spin-off from my story "Forget With Me". _

_I hope you guys like it, I know I'll love writing it. _

_Basically, this is just a possible scene of what could have happened while Elena was staying at the boarding house while Stefan was "detoxing" from the human blood. _

_Well, let's get on with it, shall we? _

_As always, please read and review, I live for feedback! _

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"Tell me a story."

Damon looked over at Elena, who had slumped into the den almost ten minutes ago, and hadn't spoken a word until now. "Pardon?"

Elena sighed. "I need something to take my mind off of everything that's happened, Damon. I can't think about Stefan, or the vampires escaped from the tomb, or these stupid Founder's Day events, or how Jeremy has been avoiding me, or about how stupid this all seems ... so, I need you to tell me something, anything," she explained. "Just take my mind off of things. You must have plenty of stories that don't involve Stefan."

Damon looked over at the brunette leaning against the couch beside him and sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't know, Elena. I don't think I have a single PG-13 story ... you might start breaking out in a serious case of the blushes."

Elena rolled her eyes, staring Damon down until he relented.

"Alright, fine," he spoke, flipping through his internal hard-drive of all the fun moments in his long life. He decided on telling her about the time he'd been chased out of a nunnery for "exposing" the mother superior to the churchgoers, and at the end of the story they were both collapsed in fits of laughter.

"For seventeen blocks?" Elena gasped, holding her side while she laughed.

Damon nodded, his body shaking with chuckles as he replayed the incident in his mind. "Those nuns were persistent."

Elena shook her head, picturing the scene. "Oh, come on ... you could have lost them sooner if you'd wanted to."

Damon grinned. "Where would be the fun in that?"

Elena rolled her eyes, shaking her head while her laughter slowly subsided. A voice in the back of her head told her she probably shouldn't be laughing so extravagantly at what Damon had done, but she couldn't help it. She'd needed to get away from everything, even if only for a few minutes, and Damon had given her that.

She sighed contentedly, adjusting her position to stretch out her stiff muscles, ending up closer to Damon than she'd been before. "That definitely helped."

Damon smiled. "Happy to be of service."

Elena snorted softly, glancing into the fire. After a few minutes she began talking again. "You know, I was so sure that I could separate the vampire in Stefan from the man. All this time ... I've just been fooling myself."

Damon glanced at her, feeling a bit uncomfortable but trying not to show it. "What, you're suddenly against the undead? I'm hurt."

Elena whacked his chest with her hand, waiting a moment before pulling it back. "That's not what I meant. It's just ... like with you, I know exactly what I'm in for. I know who you are, and I'm good with that. But I guess I was so busy trying to make Stefan into something he wasn't ... I completely missed what was happening to him."

Damon brought his left arm up to rest on the couch, turning towards her. "Elena, you're not responsible for what happened to him."

Elena shrugged. "I don't feel responsible. I feel ... stuck. I feel like I've made so much of this relationship, and now he really needs me, but I don't know if I can be there for him."

Damon forced his inner 'demons' down at the statement, not wanting to get his hopes up. Elena could just be ranting for all he knew, and would jump back into Stefan's arms the moment he was 'cured'.

"I don't know ... I'm just so exhausted," Elena finished.

Damon nodded, pulling her towards him slowly. When she didn't protest, he left his arm around her. "Then get some sleep. I'll wake you up if anything noteworthy happens.

Elena thought about arguing with him, but he was surprisingly comfortable, and she really was tired. She yawned a bit, relaxing against him and gazing into the fire as her eyelids grew heavier, until finally she slipped into a deep slumber.

Damon listened to her heartbeat, feeling it pumping in and out in time. He watched her chest rise and fall, felt her shift so that she was leaning more fully against him, her face turning into his neck. He glanced down at her while she slept, remarking at how beautiful she was. Not like Katherine, of course, but Elena was beautiful in a much more pure way. Even though she hadn't showered since yesterday, she wore no make-up, and drooled a little in her sleep, he was struck by her natural beauty. A portion of her hair covered her face, so he slowly brought his right hand up to brush her cheek, sliding the hair gently away and tucking it over her shoulder.

Elena made a small sound in her throat, turning into him more while she slept.

Damon watched her sleep for most of the night, but finally he let himself rest, catching a few hours before sunrise.

Elena woke before him, confused as to where she was at first. She felt an arm around her and panicked for a moment, thinking Stefan had gotten out of the cellar somehow. After a moment, however, she realized that she was wrapped around the person holding her as well, and he definitely did not feel like Stefan. Stefan was smaller, less muscled. A moment later she realized it was Damon. He had let her fall asleep on him last night, and as she memories came rushing back to her she raised her head a little to get a better look at him.

The movement woke Damon from his sleep and he glanced back down at her.

There was a moment where the two of them just stared at each other, the echoes of sleep still in their hazy eyes, both of them surprisingly comfortable with being wrapped in each other's arms. Elena wondered if Damon's face had always looked so peaceful, while Damon wanted to know if Elena would mind if he ran his fingers through her hair to fix the tangles.

The clock on the wall chimed, pulling them both from their trance, and just like that the spell was broken.

Elena moved into the kitchen to make coffee for them both while Damon trudged behind her, grabbing his blood from the fridge and sinking into his chair in the kitchen.

Neither of them spoke of the sleeping arrangements, and neither could stop thinking about how peaceful their sleep had been.

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_The end. _

_Just a short little fic to branch off from a mention of a scene in my last story. _

_I hope you guys liked it! _

_Reviews are appreciated, flame if you must, but constructive criticism is much more useful. _

_Until next time ...! _


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